I bought this Binnion Dollar onTele trade because of the story.If you not familiar with it,here goes, Old man Binnion died,he owned a casino,son takes over but one big problem,he is addicted to black tar opium & pills. He likes strip bars & stuffing money down pole dancers g-strings,they play him & knew who he is.So Binnion decides to move one of these pole girls into his mansion,soon he is found overdosed & no money around. Turns out the contractor binnion had construct the vault in the desert was doing Binnions girl so the boyfriend went to the desert valt @ night w/a flatbed truck w/lights on & proceeded to steal a fortune in bars silver & Morgans that old dad had kept in the basement of the golden nugget before binnion removed then to his new safe,Local cop rides by the ranch & see lights from the rig & investigates the treasure hoard & calls it in,DUMMMMM ! They check House & Binnion is dead as a doornail.Arrest are made of wife(girlfriend) & Contractor.I think wife got 15-25 by boyfriend got double . So here's a picture of the Blood Money.
You have it about right. I have met Benny, who did a stretch in the slammer and fled Dallas TX to seek the new world in Nevada. I also have met this children. Ted, Jack and Becky, and watched their flagship casino, the Horseshoe, go down for failure to pay payroll tax. Ted's girlfriend and Rick Tabish reportedly did Ted in and stole his stash. The Morgans were nothing special, just booty secreted in the Horshoe vaults when our coinage was demonitized in the mid 60s and later moved to the underground vault in the desert. The first murder trial ended in a conviction, but was reversed on appeal. Next round ended in acquittal on the murder charges and conviction on theft and other charges. The coins are interesting and historical. and are fun to own.
I had to look up the story that you were trying to relate about the Binions, so I figured I'd share some links about the story and the personages with others who may read this thread: Benny Binion, Ted Binion, * † Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel, * "In 1998, Binion's gaming license was permanently revoked, and he was never to be associated with the family business again. Inside the basement of the casino was Ted's silver collection, housed in a floor-to-ceiling vault at the Horseshoe Club. When Ted’s ties to the family casino were severed, he had to either sell the silver or relocate it to a secure spot." † "Buried treasure After his death, it was discovered by Nye County sheriff's deputies that Ted had had a 12-foot deep vault built on the desert floor on a piece of property he owned in Pahrump, 60 miles (97 km) west of Las Vegas. The concrete bunker contained six tons of silver bullion, Horseshoe Casino chips, paper currency, and more than 100,000 rare coins, including Carson City silver dollars -- many in mint condition -- estimated to be worth between $7 million and $14 million -- that were once housed in the Horseshoe vault. The Pahrump underground vault would play a huge role in the investigation into Binion's death. After Ted Binion was banned from the casino, he contracted construction of the underground vault with MRT Transport, a trucking company owned by Rick Tabish. MRT trucks were used to transport the silver to the vault, and the only two people who had the combination to the vault were Binion and Tabish. The vault was discovered two days after Binion died, whereupon Nye County sheriff's deputies arrested Binion's associate Rick Tabish and two other men unearthing the silver."
Gotta explain there Major. I don't remember reading anything about the silver dollar or any of our coinage being demonitized..
Technically I misspoke, but as far as I am concerned removing silver from our coinage was tantamount to demonitizing it.
Quote: Originally Posted by majorbigtime just booty secreted in the Horshoe vaults when our coinage was demonitized in the mid 60s Huh??????? They say debased--either way, the "value" was stripped when they stopped using silver. Like Yogi Berra said when that happened "a dime ain't worth a nickel any more".
Chauffeur My neighbor and friend since high school worked at the Horseshoe dealing and then in security. Later he was one of Ted Binion's six personal drivers and bodyguards. He was on call 24/7. Later when the shift in family ownership went into the hands of a certain female family member, Ted Binion told my friend he was about to be fired. He says that this female family member fired over 160 Horseshoe and Binion employees in one whack. Anyway before being fired he left for a job in Alaska. Much later he started again to try to make contact with Ted and was told he was dead. So now I am saying to myself I don't own any coins from the Binion Collection. I am looking around to start buying and see NGC MS63 Peace dollars for about $50. I seriously think I should grab one just because of the history here. I may add that posts here mention pills and black tar but Ted was a heavy Pot head too.
Me gots Morgan & Peace Mutts already. I think I'll just watch more closely now and maybe pick off a cheap Binion at one of the shows.